Snape's Promise
by GreenTfairy
Summary: Spoilers for HPBmy oneshot reaction retracing Snape's footsteps, and filling in the argument he and Dumbledore had in the woods.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Snape's Chambers

He was asleep, a rare occurrence at the best of times. Flitwick's knock, not entirely unexpected, arrived seconds after McGonagall's charm roused him from his dreams. "Professor Snape, you must come. It's Albus. He needs you."

"Damn you Albus." He swore under his breath as he dressed hurriedly, then opened the door to let in the pintsized Professor Flitwick. Flitwick, who only came up to Snape's knee, levitated to the bureau to look him in the eye, too winded to speak. The goblinlike professor simply panted, opening his mouth and closing it uselessly a moment.

"Is Draco Malfoy out of bed?"

"I didn't check…."

Snape snapped his fingers for his wand. "Potter? Is he roaming the halls?" That would be all he needed, tonight. He passionately hoped that Potter was where he was supposed to be, or the whole night would be for nothing. Flitwick said, "He's with the Headmaster. And there are people in the castle….DeathEaters." Snape whirled on Flitwick with blazing eyes. "Petrificus Totalis!" he cried, and Flitwick fell to the floor with a thud.

"Sorry, Filius, old boy, can't risk you being hit," he muttered. He rushed out of his room, saw Luna Lovegood and Hermione Granger, and barked at them, "Professor Flitwick is ill-see to him!" They bolted for his study. That was three of them out of the way, at any rate. He doubted he could do anything about the melee in the corridor.

Grateful that none of the others could possibly penetrate the barrier placed by Amycus, he sprinted effortlessly through the it and ran after the Deatheaters and Draco, to the tower where Dumbledore lay waiting. He prayed that he did not come too late.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Headmaster's Office

He waved away Dumbledore's offer of sugar, and stirred his tea with his wand, changing it into something a bit more drinkable, for him, at least. He'd just taken a sip, and was savoring the complex mixture of salt, metal, and sweetness, when the world as he knew it ended forever.

Dumbledore smiled broadly, showing those teeth that were white and perfect despite near continual immersion in sugar over the past half-century. "What would you say, Severus, if I were to offer you the Defense Against Dark Arts Post this year?"

The teacup fell to the floor, its contents red as Phoenix feathers spreading in a pool at Snape's feet. Fawkes made a sweet warbling noise of sympathy.

"Reparo," Dumbledore said serenely, and held out the cup to Snape, who sat staring at him as if he'd grown a second head. "Severus?"

"You can't possibly be serious, Albus. Now?" The younger wizard's eyes flickered to the blackened withered hand of his mentor. Fawkes warbled what sounded like emphatic agreement. The job was cursed. Taking it meant his final year at Hogwarts. "You're firing me."

"Don't think of it like that, Severus. Think of it as a parting gift. You've always wanted the job, haven't you?" Snape looked at his feet.

The snowy brows knit sternly. "Harry is sixteen, Severus. If not now, when?"

Never, might be a good time, he thought sourly. Out loud he said. "Potter is not ready. And…I've rebuilt my position with the Dark Lord, but..." "_Spying" on you has kept me from having to torture, or kill, or hurt any of the others. I am not ready for it to end…_

The blue eyes filled with sorrow. "You've had two years to prepare, Severus. We must have a man on the inside. One who can lead Harry into it unawares. You know how the boy feels about you. You have managed that quite well. We will have to use that. It's all we have left."

Snape nodded. "It could work. You know that as yet, he could not cast the killing curse if his life depended on it. Which I'm afraid it does. " His eyes lingered on the older wizard's useless left hand, again.

"I'm aware of that, Severus. If anyone but Harry could do it, you know I would have already have done so. But I'm sure by the fall he'll be able to do it as well as you can. I only wish I could be there to make sure you don't botch the timing of it. Timing was never your strongest suit."

Snape's eyes glittered like scarabs.

"Headmaster. I regret the Occlumency lessons were a failure, but we would still be forced into….changing…Potter…even if I had succeeded." He had to choose his words with care. Pettigrew could be under the floorboards again…..

Dumbledore was suddenly all business. "We have a very short time in which to get rid of all of the horcruxes, or the killing curse will have no effect. Two are already gone, and, thanks to you, I know the nature and locations of the other four. I believe we must concentrate on the lakebound horcrux, as it will be the most difficult."

"Guarded by Inferi, and if that weren't enough, it's guarded by the Tenfold Potion. I would not recommend it to my worst enemy. The potion is not merely deadly. It turns the drinker into a vessel for the Dark Lord's will, a living dead servant. After a few hours the killing curse has no effect on the drinker. If I were to drink it, the danger to all of you would be inestimable." _To say nothing, he thought, of the hideous torture of drinking it. I thought I'd be pouring it down Voldemort's throat. I had no idea of a real human being drinking it. _

"I'm not asking you to drink it, Severus. Just take me there."

Snape sighed. Once the old man got an idea into his head, there was no getting rid of it.

"When are you going to see Madame Pomfrey about that hand? If she can't break the curse, it ought to be removed before it infects the rest of you."

Albus simply looked at him mildly, his slothlike expression unchanged. Clearly he had no intention of telling Poppy Pomfrey any of what they had done that summer.

"I contained the curse in vain, then. You're going to make no attempt to save yourself?"

Again the sweet, vacuous stare. Albus Dumbledore as rag doll.

Snape scowled as he stored all his memory of this conversation and Voldemort's ring, in Albus Dumbledore's Penseive.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Spinner's End.

It would never occur to Narcissa that he could care about her, and about Draco, without being on the side of the Deatheaters. She was too childlike to ever understand that love, and being on the same side, were not synonymous. She knew he had loved her once, and played that card for everything it was worth.

When he forced the glass of wine into her flowerlike hand, and lowered her shaking body onto the sofa, he knew she would never guess there was veritaserum in the glass she held to her lips.

He pretended to know, but he wasn't at all sure what the plan involving Draco was. The Dark Lord really didn't trust him altogether, but liked the idea of using him to keep track of Potter and Dumbledore, since Pettigrew was altogether useless now in that regard. Pettigrew. What was he doing now, Snape wondered. Probably listening at the door. Probably scurrying back to the Dark Lord in his rat form, to report on the Unbreakable Vow Snape was taking. He hoped so.

He been ordered to prize the safety of a student, any student, over his own, or that of the Headmaster. One way or the other, Albus Dumbledore's life was over. It took every bit of his hard-won Occlumency to conceal the dismay he felt.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Forest

He bent to harvest a silvery stand of mushrooms, unicornis lunarius, so called because they grew only in unicorn leavings, nourished by moonlight. He wasn't the potions teacher anymore, but old habits died hard. He could not walk past a find like that.

A bag of galleons landed on the ground in front of him. He looked up to see Albus standing there, smiling at him. He felt a moment of blind rage at the old man. "You couldn't simply place it in Gringott's? You feel you have to pay me off like this?"

"Severus, you can't think they'll let you anywhere near Gringott's after? You'll need this, and you'll need a plan. Every man the ministry has, will be looking for you."

"You take too much for granted. I might not want to…and it might not come to that. I am working to develop an antidote." Even as he said it he knew he was being ridiculous. He'd had more than a decade to find an antidote. If it hadn't happened by now, it wasn't likely to happen in the next few months.

"I'm counting on you, Severus," Dumbledore said softly. "After I drink the Tenfold Potion," Severus started to object, but Albus held up his hand. "After I drink it, you must act quickly. You cannot let Draco become a killer. And you must not let me turn."

"Headmaster..."

"How are investigations in your house proceeding, by the way? Is Draco getting close? Can you delay him until I can get the horcrux?"

Snape stood, cleaning off his boleen with his cloak, the silvery mushrooms in the basket glowing like a Lumos spell. "I don't want to do it anymore." He imagined folding his arms and letting himself die, when the time came. Breaking the Unbreakable Vow and leaving Draco, and Potter, to fend for themselves…allowing Albus to turn into Merlin knew what. Unacceptable. He folded his arms, nostrils flaring.

He imagined heading out to the lake and drinking the potion himself….although no one could do it alone. He'd made sure of that himself. He knew of no one he could trust, to accompany him, except the man next to him, whose days were already numbered anyway. No, as usual, Albus had thought of everything, even of how Severus was to live on the run, caring for Draco, afterwards.

"I need you, Severus," Dumbledore said mildly.

"You don't. You need a killer." Snape hissed.

"Exactly." The blue eyes twinkled. "One who will

"Damn you and your plans," he exploded. "I don't WANT to. I refuse to. Find another way." He turned on his heel to walk away.

Equally angry, Dumbledore grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. "You agreed to it, and you shall do as you've promised," he said sternly. "It's much too late to change your mind." Snape opened his mouth to say that Dumbledore would never demand this of any of the others, that his wonderful trust amounted to nothing more in the end, than putting him at Voldemort's mercy.

A twig snapped, and both wizards looked in its direction. Hagrid waved at them. Albus waved back cheerfully, and both wizards watched Hagrid's large form retreat from the forest, towards his hut.

More softly Albus said, patting his shoulder, "Death comes to us all, my boy. There's no escaping it. I am fortunate. I get to have a purpose to my death, and to select the manner of it. Most people get neither. I'm counting on you."

The air hung heavy with unsaid words. Albus' arms were open, as if he would hug Snape. Snape's face was expressionless. He said nothing, but hoisted his basket, and the galleons, and walked stoically away into the blackness.


End file.
